Horner breaks silence over accusations against him – Christian Horner began the 2024 Formula One season in a blaze of publicity. He was accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a Red Bull Racing employee but what should have been an internal matter for the organisation became a very public affair for the Red Bull boss.

Rumours of a coupe detente to remove Horner were fuelled when an anonymous email leaked the alleged evidence to around 150 senior members of the paddock. The finger of suspicion fell on Dr. Helmut Marko who did little to defuse the situation when he suggested he may be suspended for the Australian Grand Prix.

The spectre of Red Bull without Dr. Marko was presented to world champion Max Verstappen who then hinted he could leave the team were his Austrian mentor forced out.

 

 

 

Red Bull internal wrangles

To make matters worse, Max’s father decided to make his views known demanding that Horner step down because he was “in danger of tearing the team apart.” A TJ13 insider suggested Jos had previously been romantically involved with the female employee.

Rivals took every opportunity to comment on the Red Bull internal fighting, with a pious Zak Brown stating: “McLaren holds themselves and all the men and women at McLaren to the highest standards. Obviously, diversity and equality and inclusion are extremely important to us, our partners, to everyone in Formula 1,” he said.

Brown went on to call for “transparency” from Red Bull and hinted it could be the responsibility of the FIA to investigate under its ‘bringing the sport into disrepute’ regulations.

The independent King’s Counsel appointed to handle the complaints process concluded: “The independent investigation into the allegations made against Mr Horner is complete, and Red Bull can confirm that the grievance has been dismissed. The complainant has a right of appeal.”

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Further investigations ahead?

It seemed as though the matter was about to spill out in classic kiss and tell fashion when ‘friends’ of the female employee began speaking to the tabloids. ‘Her’ side of the story was partially revealed together with the information that the accuser was launching an appeal and making it clear, should that fail, she would be requesting a hearing in front of a UK employment tribunal.

Tribunals can be held in public which of course is an unspoken threat to Horner. That said since those handling the appeal declared this week the charges against the Red Bull boss have been dismissed, there has been no statement from the female employees legal representatives threatening an employment tribunal.

Yet Horner is not out of the woods just yet, given the decision of over the appeal landed right in the middle of summer holidays. A response to the Red Bull internal decision making process may yet be on the way as businesses returns from its summer break.

Speaking to Sky Sports News Christian Horner said he was “relieved”, but remains focused on matters on track as F1 returns to the Dutch Grand Prix.

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Horner “relieved” its over

“Obviously, it’s been a hugely thorough process and, of course, I was relieved with the appeal concluding and dismissing the claim,” said Horner.

“So, now It’s very much, as it has been all season, focus on track, here at Max’s home race and looking forward to these last 10 races.”

When asked about calls for transparency from the likes of Zak Brown, Horner added: “It is a private matter. I’m just relieved that the process [carried out by] the company now has been concluded. Our focus is very much on track.”

And focus is what Red Bull need in bucket loads given they are no longer favourites to win in Zandvoort. This despite Max Verstappen winning each and every competitive session held at the circuit since its return for the 2021 season. 

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Verstappen says RB20 “slow”

But Max was complaining after the two practice sessions on Friday that the car was “too slow on the short runs” and “too slow on the longer runs.”

“In FP1, I didn’t really get a lot of running in, but I guess in FP2 you could see a little bit more where you are,” said Verstappen.

“A bit too slow on the short run, a bit too slow on the long run. So a bit of work to do. At the moment, there’s no clear answer of how to improve that specifically, but we’ll look into things.”

“Just a bit too slow. Simple as that.”

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Horner refutes Dr. Marko assertion

But Max has a comfortable lead in the drivers’ championship and even when not winning six of the last nine Grand Prix, his classified positions were 2, 6, 2, 5, 2, 5, 4. Results continuing like this would require Lando Norris to inmost of the remaining ten Grand Prix.

There remain tensions within the Red Bull team and Christian Horner unwittingly opened the door on them when asked about Dr. Helmut Marko’s statement about Liam Lawson. The 81 year old had said coming into the weekend that he, “will definitely be in one of our cars next year,” when speaking to Kleine Zeitung.

Yet Horner appeared to contradict this stating: “Nothing is fixed. At the moment, we’ve still got a few weeks to make those decisions.

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Perez issue will return

“Obviously, we know the situation with Checo, and the contract that he has. With Daniel and Liam, there are options within their agreements that, obviously, we won’t talk about in public until things are concluded.”

The Red Bull boss explained the decision to retain Checo was based on the fact the Mexican driver has won at two of the next four circuits coming up, although he cautioned that Zandvoort “isn’t one of his best.”

Yet given the closing gap between Red Bull and McLaren in the constructors’ championship, the matter finally put to bed for the Milton Keynes management.

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F1 team ‘assets seized’ request puts Monza appearance in doubt

Guenther Steiner was asked for his opinions last autumn following the FIA giving the green light to the Andretti F1 team. Speaking to assembled media he commented:

“Don’t forget the risk as well. Now you’ve got 10 very stable teams, which are all technically stable, financially stable. If you put another team in and maybe somebody’s getting in jeopardy in three or four years’ time, maybe we’ve got only eight or nine teams left, you know.”

This appears ironic twelve months on as Haas F1 face the seizure of the cars and spares in Zandvoort. The reason? A dispute with former sponsor Uralkali over unpaid funds after a lengthy legal dispute… READ MORE